New Philadelphia Retail Stores; Multifamily Developments to Break Ground throughout the State

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor
King of Prussia Mall, the nation’s largest retail center, will be expanded and redeveloped to make way for new stores. City officials, quoted by the Philadelphia Inquirer, announced last week that the John Wanamaker department store [...]

King of Prussia Mall, the nation’s largest retail center, will be expanded and redeveloped to make way for new stores. City officials, quoted by the Philadelphia Inquirer, announced last week that the John Wanamaker department store will be demolished and replaced with a two-story, 122,790-square-foot new building that will house as many as ten new retail stores. According to a press release, Bob Hart, the mall’s general manager, said that redeveloping the corridor will attract highly sought-after retailers who are looking for larger spaces in prime markets. Lindsay Thompson, the project’s spokeswoman, added that the construction is expected to continue through the fall of 2012.

In other real estate development news, 33 affordable multifamily projects will be constructed throughout Pennsylvania thanks to an $11.2 million grant approved conditionally by the board of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA). The agency has also approved approximately $30 million in tax breaks for these multi-housing developments, informs Citybizlist. In a statement released last week, Brian A. Hudson Sr., PHFA Executive Director and CEO, said that the 33 new housing developments made possible by this funding will boost economic development around the state and will have a positive ripple effect throughout the local communities where they are located.

The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that Ashbridge Square, a 386,016-square-foot shopping center located at 900E. Lancaster Ave. in Downington, was sold by Pacific Crest Holdings L.L.C. for $51.75 million, or $133 per square foot, to North Jersey-based Morris Ashbridge Associates L.P. Ashbridge tenants currently include Home Depot, Best Buy, Staples, Bottom Dollar, a State Store and other retail chains. The seller was represented in this transaction by Mark Taylor of Marcus & Millichap’s Philadelphia office.